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Wolves in Sheep Clothing By Dr. Edgar Pierce ©2005 |
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This work was delivered at Cedar Grove Baptist in Kingsport. Some of the information is dated and will become increasingly outdated but the overall content will remain relevant. I claim no expertise in the field other than a student of the Word of God and a seeker for truth. Therefore at the end of each chapter are the footnotes of references quoted within the text. There are some errors that have escaped my detection as I have sought to reformat this work for the internet from the original format. I trust that I have been objective and accurate as humanly possible. It is not my desire to be argumentative but only to present the truth of what other religions believe as compared to Christianity.
Wolves
in Sheep Clothing…Matthew 7:13-15
Islam: Same God or Old Lie? …Exodus
36:14
Mormonism:
Restoration of the Truth or Another Lie?...Gal
1:6-9
Jehovah’s
Witnesses: Witness to the Truth or Lies?...John
8:41-44
Hinduism:
One God Or Many?...Is 44:6
Buddhism:
Children of Light or Darkness?... John
1:1-9
New Age:
New Truth or Same Old Lies?... Eccl
1:9-10
Christianity:
The Truth!...1 John 4:6
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Wolves in Sheep Clothing
Matthew 7:13-15
“Enter
ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that
leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and
few there be that find it. 15 Beware of false prophets, which come
to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” Matthew
7:13-15
The
landscape of America is changing! Mosques, Temples, Shrines are springing up.
It is common in our world today to see Muslims praying, monks in their loose
robes looking peaceful as they slowly move about, or to see the Dali Llama, a
Tibetan Buddhist leader, on TV talking about peace and loving people. Most of
us have had the experience of Mormon missionaries or Jehovah Witnesses knocking
on our door. George Braswell said, “Religion appears to be healthy in America,
given its visibility and extensiveness across the nation.”1
“In
1968 the Beatles proclaimed Transcendental Meditation was the answer to all
mankind’s distress.” 2
After the Beatle’s broke up George Harrison, the Beatle that died in the last
2002 deceived many with the song “My Sweet
Lord” in which he started out with Hallelujah and then switched to Hare
Krishna.
While
Christianity has all but been outlawed in our public schools other alternative
religions and cults flourish. I have an email dated 13 Jan 2002 that quotes a
copyright story of WorldNetDaily.com that
is disturbing.
“In the wake of Sept 11, an increasing
number of California public school students must attend an intensive three-week
course on Islam, reports ASSIST News Service…
The course mandates that seventh-graders
learn the tenets of Islam, study the important figures of the faith, wear a
robe, adopt a Muslim name and stage their own jihad. Adding to this apparent
hypocrisy, reports ANS, students must memorize many verses in the Koran, are
taught to pray “in the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful” and are
instructed to chant, “Praise to Allah, Lord of Creation.” 3
If
this does not disturb you it should because how often does the rest of America
follow the lead of California.
This
just illustrated the great need we have in the Christian Church to understand
the religions around us so we can prepare and counteract such things as this.
“One very practical need for understanding religions is for better methods of
outreach to them or for better means of encountering their outreach.” 4
In
2
Timothy 4:2-4 Paul told Timothy, and us, to, “Preach the word; be instant in
season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and
doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound
doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers,
having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the
truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
1
Timothy 4:1 says, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in
the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing
spirits, and doctrines of devils.”
Today we as
Christians are portrayed as narrow minded and closed to others. While this
seems to be true anybody only needs to look at the openness of cultures that
embrace Christianity and the closedness of the groups and nations that embrace
false religions and cults.
If
we are narrow minded, and indeed we should be, it is because there is only one
God and one way to heaven. Remember Jesus said in our text, ““Enter
ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that
leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and
few there be that find it.”
Jesus went on to say,
“Beware
of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are
ravening wolves” concerning those that teach false doctrine.
Throughout
the New Testament you will find warning after warning about departing from the
faith of Christ and false teachers coming. Paul warned in Acts 20:29 “For I know this, that
after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the
flock.” We certainly have seen this come to pass.
“Some
researchers estimate that new religions and cults originating the last two
hundred years have increased their membership figures in this century by 2,000
percent to 3,000 percent.”5
The
American Family Federation estimates there are between 3,000 to 5,000 active
groups. There are estimated to be 150,000,000 people involved in these.
Allow
me to now ask several questions and attempt to answer them as a format for this
introduction.
I- What
is a “cult” and/or “false” religion?
While there two terms can and are used
interchangeable I wish to make a distinction between them. A false religion is
a world religions that is not in any way based on Christianity while a cult is
one with Christian ties in some way. We will use these two terms however during
this study interchangeable because both are false when compared to the Bible.
Allow
me to offer a couple of definitions for a cult.
First, according to Ankerberg and Weldon.
“The term “cult”
comes from the French sulte and Latin
cultus, “cultivation,” “reverence,”
from colere, “To cultivate worship.”
According to Shipley’s Dictionary of Word
Origins, the word can be traced back to “argiculture” and indirectly to
“acorn”: the term “agriculture” is Latin, agri
culturea, “tilling the field, from colere,
cult, to cultivate (cultivating the favor of the gods is to attend to
them, to worship them)…” 6
They
concede that the word cult is difficult to define. They also make a destination
between cults and what they call a, “standard world religion.” They give a definition of a cult as, “a
separate religious group generally claiming compatibility with Christianity but
whose doctrine contradicts those of historic Christianity and whose practices
and ethical standards violate those of biblical Christianity.” 7
Webster’s Third New International Dictionary
(unabridged) define “cult” or “cultic”:
1) religious
practice: worship; 2) a system of belief and ritual connected with worship of a
deity or a spirit, or a group of deities or spirits; 3) the rites, ceremonies
and practices of a religion as the cultus
of Roman Catholicism, involving ceremonial veneration paid to God, Virgin
Mary or the saints; 4) a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; 5) a system
for curing disease based on dogma or principles set forth to the exclusion of
scientific evidence; and 6) excessive devotion to a person, idea or thing.” 8
Larson
says, “a group is cultic: (1) if it ignores or purposely omits central
apostolic doctrines; or (2) if it holds to beliefs that are distinctly opposed
to orthodox Christianity.” 9
II-
Does simply claiming to be Christian make a group Christian?
One thing that makes certain groups so
deceptive is they claim to be Christian. They use the same words, but with
different meanings, and quote the same scriptures, but with a different
interpretation. Just simply by the fact they carry the name “Christian” many
let their guard down and don’t look at what they teach.
This
begs the questions, “is there such a thing as absolute truth?” and “does truth
matter.” There can only be one truth not many truths that contradict each
other. Our purpose is to discover the truth in this study. Ankerberg said, “The
great German reformer Martin Luther was correct when he wrote that, in the end,
there were only two religions in the world, the religion of works and the
religion of grace. No one has yet satisfactorily explained how, apart from
divine revelation, we find only one religion of grace among thousands professing
works.” 10
Most
cults are openly hostile to Bible based Christianity and feel they are sent to
straighten out the wrong. They deny the basic tenets of the Christian faith as
they attempt to claim the umbrella of Christianity. I remind us all that Satan knew
and quoted scripture to Christ at temptation. (see Matthew 4 and Luke
2)
III-
Why are the cults so attractive and why do people join?
The most obvious reason people are a
particular religion in many cases is because of the culture into which they are
born. Hindu’s are in most cases born in Hindu countries and Muslims are born in
Muslim countries. Certainly this can be understood as a reason. They still need
to hear the gospel however.
One might have the false impression
that those who join the cults are people who have not been exposed to religion
and a cult is their first religious experience. This however is a false
assumption. John Ankerberg quotes from Dr. Paul R. Martin, a cult expert.
Martin says, “…research indicated that a “sizeable proportion of those involved
in cults or extremist groups come from some type of evangelical church base. Of
the cultist I have personally worked with, approximately 25% came from
evangelical or fundamental churches and over 40% had backgrounds in large, more
liberal Protestant denominations.” 11
On
might ask why or how could this be. I submit that many people are so ignorant
of even the most basic tenets of the faith that they will easily be misled by a
lie that sounds good. Larson's New Book
of Cults says, “In a society that is biblically illiterate, the deception
of a cult is particularly enticing if it claims to have “restored” certain
truths that have been lost or undiscovered.” 12
“Pollsters
Barna and others have found that Americans are “basically ignorant” of even
simple Bible teachings, and the connection her to the rise of the cults is more
than incidental.” 13
The
problem may be even rooted deeper than this. If those who have the charge of
preaching and teaching the truth do not believe then we have problems.
Ankerberg gives some startling statistics he referenced for September 7, 1991 Chattanooga New Free Press.
“…national opinion
polls reveal that 35 percent of America’s evangelical seminarians deny that
faith in Christ is absolutely necessary for salvation; 35 percent of the entire
adult evangelical population agrees that “God will save all good people when
they die, regardless of whether they’ve trusted Christ”; 30 to 51 percent of
Protestant pastors do not believe in the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ;
53 percent of those who claim to be Bible-believing conservative Christians
“Said there is no such thing as absolute truth”; 43 percent of born again
Christians agree that “it does not matter what religious faith you follow
because all faiths teach similar lessons about life”; 30 percent of born again
Christians do not believe that “Jesus came back to physical life after he was
crucified.” Up to 70 percent of adults generally believe that “it does not
matter what God, force or higher power you pray to because it will respond
regardless.” 14
Larson
says because of the influence of the eastern religions on us, “…many
“Christians” pay lip service to the church of their choice while
philosophically adhering to an occult/mystical/Hinduistic/Buddhist/Taoist/spiritualist
concept of life.” 15 This
brings up a very important reason. Lack of totally being sold out to Jesus.
Remember what He said to the church of the Laodiceans in the book of the
Revelation? Rev 3:15-16 “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I
would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm,
and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”
Dear God help us to
know You and Your Word so we will not be deceived by a lie.
IV-
What is the common ground of all cults?
While there are many things that
Christians disagree on there are also many on which we have common ground. Most
cults and false religions have many things in common as well. Notice what
Larson says concerning this:
“These are things that most cults share in
common: (1) a centralized authority that tightly structures both philosophy and
life-style; (2) a “we” verses “they” complex, pitting the supposed superior
insights of the group against a hostile outside culture; (3) a commitment for each
member to proselytize intensively the unconverted; and (4) an entrenched
isolationism that divorces the devotee from the realities of the world at
large.” 16
He
goes on to say, “All cults have one thing in common. They consider the claims
of Christ as optional, not essential to salvation.” 17
The
one doctrine that is essential that everyone get right is the doctrine of
Christ. Hear these words well beloved, 1 John 2:22-23 “Who is a liar but he that
denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and
the Son. 23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father:
(but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.”
V- What
are the critical doctrines we will explore?
As
a part of our study of the Wolves in
Sheep Clothing I feel it is important to know what we believe as we attempt
to discover the error of others. I feel there are five basic doctrines that we
need to explore as we look at what these various religions and cults believe.
1- Christ: Who was Jesus according to them?
2- Salvation: How are we made right with
God/gods according to them?
3- God: What is their concept of what
God/gods is like?
4- Man: What is their concept of man’s
origin, purpose, future hope?
5- Bible: According to them how do we know
God/gods or how is He/they revealed.
We
will attempt to lay the Word of God beside their doctrines and see the sharp
contrast between light and dark. All of these may not be applicable to each
cult or religion and others may be needed to explore their beliefs and how we
can learn to respond to them.
I
wish to leave us with words of encouragement. 1 John 4:3-4 “And every spirit
that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God… 4
Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he
that is in you, than he that is in the world.”
Chapter One Notes:
1 Braswell, George Understanding
Sectarian Groups in America, Broadman and Holman Publishers, Nashville, TN.
1973, p. 2
2 Larson, Bob, Larson’s New Book of Cults, Tyndale
House, Wheaton, Ill. 1989, p. 10.
3 Worldnetdaily.com
4 Braswell, George Understanding World Religions revised, Broadman and Holman Publishers,
Nashville, TN. 1994, p. 4
5 Ankerberg, John & John
Weldon, Encylopedia of Cults and New
Religions, Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR, 1999, p XV.
6 Ibid. p XXI
7 Ibid. p. XXII
8 Webster’s Third New
International Dictionary
9 Larson, p. 20
10 Ankerberg, p XX
11 Ibid. p. XXIX
12 Larson, p. 15
13 Ankerberg, p. XVII
14 Ibid. p. XXX
15 Larson, p. 38
16 Ibid. p. 14
17 Ibid. p. 29
Return to Exposing the Word
Islam: Same God or Old Lie?
Exodus 36:14
“For thou shalt
worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”
Ex 34:14
The second largest
religion in the world is known as Islam and its followers are known as Muslims.
Islam means “submission” and Muslim
means “one who submits.” Some call
those who follow Islam Muhammadians, which is very offensive to them. They say
they follow Allah not Muhammad.
Church Planting & Evangelism published
by the North American Mission Board in the Winter 2002 edition give the
following statistics:
Ø
Together,
Christianity and Islam claim one-half of the world’s population.
Ø
1.9 billion or 31% of
the world’s population are of Christian religion.
Ø
1.2 billion or 19.6 %
of the world’s population are followers of Islam.
Ø
49.4% the number of
other religions and non-believers.
Ø
One-fifth of the
worlds population, one in five, are Muslim.
Ø
200 million- The
number of Muslims worldwide in 1990.
Ø
1.2 billion- The
number of Muslims worldwide in 2000.
Ø
4.1 million- The
number of Muslims in the U.S. which has more than quadrupled in the past three
decades.
Ø
Although usually
associated with the Arabs of the Middle East, less than 10% are in fact Arabs.
Muslims are found all over the world, of every nation, color and race.
Ø
58- The number of
Southern Baptist Congregations with members of primarily Middle Eastern
descent. 1
Islam
is not only the second largest religion in the world it is the fastest growing
religion. For us as Christians to impact our world we must understand Islam and
Muslims individually.
N.S.R.K.
Ravi, a specialist with the North American Mission Board in New Age and world
religions, says “Part of Southern Baptist’s hesitancy to share Christ with
Muslims is due to an unfamiliarity with the faith…Islam…is both a world
religion and a political system and that make it difficult for many to
understand….It is considered to be one of the simplest and least complicated
religions to practice and governs all aspects of its adherent’s life.” 2
II- The
Books of the Islamic Faith and Practice:
The faith of Islam is formed from two
primary sources. One is the Koran (also spelled Quran and Qur’an) and the
Hadith.
“Muslims believe that the Qur’an was
revealed to their prophet, Muhammad, in the Arabic language, which is the very
language spoken by Allah in heaven. Allah is the author of the Qur’an and
Muhammad is the channel of Allah’s word to the people. Actually Qur’an means to
recite. The Qur’an was written down soon after the prophet’s death in the
seventh century A.D.” 3
Muhammad did not write the Koran but
it was written from memory by his followers after his death. Robert Morey says,
“It is apparent from the early biographers that Muhammad had no premonition of
his own death. He had made no arrangements for a successor. He did not set up
any kind of governmental bureaucracy to run things in the event of his death.
Neither
did he gather or put together his various revelations into what is now known as
the Quran.” 4
Do
you not find it amazing that God gave this to Muhammad but he did not write it
down? There are many things that were forgotten and I am sure many things not
remembered correctly.
In
addition to the Koran there is another book known as the Hadith. Let me give us
another quote to help us further understand the Koran and Hadith.
“Quran (also spelled Koran or
Qur’an) is Arabic for “the recitation,” and refers to the collection of revelations
supposedly given by Allah through his archangel to Muhammad and preserved as
the Islamic scripture. Muslims believe in the Law of Moses, the Psalms of
David, and the Injil, or gospel of Jesus Christ. However, they believe that
those Scriptures were superseded by the scripture given through Muhammad, and
that the Bible used by Christians and Jews is a distorted version of those
other scriptures. Wherever the Bible contradicts Islam, the Muslim says the
Bible is incorrect. Sura refers to
the divisions within the Quran, and roughly corresponds to our “chapter.” The
Quran contains 114 revelations, each composing one Sura or chapter. The
shortest revelations appear first, the longest ones last. There is no
chronological arrangement in the Quran. Also important in Islamic literature is
the Hadith, Arabic for the “collected
traditions.” These are the supposed words of Muhammad and are the customs that
provide source material for the intricate political and social structure of
Islam.”5
A-
Satanic Verses:
A few years ago a literally work came
out called Satanic Verses and the
author was put under contract for death. (This title was taken from the history
of Islam.) Shortly after he began to preach Muhammad came under fire for his
message that there is only one god.
“In order to appease his pagan family
members and the members of the Quraysh tribe, he decided that the best thing he
could do was to admit that it was perfectly proper to pray to and worship the
three daughters of Allah: Al-Lat, Al-Uzza, and Manat.
This lead to the famous, “satanic verse” in
which Muhammad in a moment of weakness and supposedly under the inspiration of
Satan (according to early Muslim authorities) succumbed to the temptation to
appease the pagan mobs in Mecca…
When his disciples at Medina heard of
Muhammad’s fall into polytheism, they rushed to him with rebuke and counsel…
He then reverted back to his monotheism and
stated that Allah can “abrogate,” that is, cancel, a past revelation.
After Muhammad’s death the “satanic verses”
were not included in the text of the Quran. They were abominated.” 6
I
find it interesting to see that while Muslims teach that God has no Son they
teach Allah has three daughters.
B- Five
Pillars of Islam:
There
are five so-called “Pillars” of Islam found in the Koran. These are five in
number. They are duties that Muslims are expected to perform. Ron Rhodes in his
Quick Reference Guide “Islam, What You
Need To Know” gives us the following explanation of these five pillars.
“1. Creedal
recitation. Muslims are expected to publicly recite the Shahadah (literally, “to bear witness”):
“There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah.” This
recitation, with conviction, makes one a believer.
2. Prayers.
Muslims are expected to perform salat,
or offer prayers, five times a day: at dawn, noon, afternoon, evening, and
night. These prayers involve a series of postures (standing, kneeling, hands
and face on the ground, and so forth) while facing Mecca, the holy city.
3. Give
alms. Muslims are expected to give alms (sakat) to the Muslim community that amount to one-fortieth (or 2 ½
percent) of one’s income. This offering benefits widows, orphans, and the sick,
or it can be used toward furthering Islam (for example, building mosques and
religious schools).
4. Fast. Muslims
are expected to fast during the month of Ramadan
(the ninth month of the Muslim lunar year). During this month Muslims
abstain from food, drink, smoking, and sexual relations during the daylight
hours. At sundown they are allowed to partake of these things again until
sunrise the next morning.”
5. Pilgrimage.
Health and finances providing, every Muslim is expected to make an official
pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj) at least
once in his or her life. If one is unable to go, one is permitted to have
another person make the Hajj for him as a proxy.” 7
We
will explore the doctrines of Islam later in more detail.
II- The
Founding of Islam:
As
we have seen Muslims are expected to publicly recite what is known as the Shahadah (with literally means, “to bear
witness”). The Shahadah is, “There is
no god but Allah and Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah.” We will discuss Allah
later. For now we ask who is this Muhammad and was he a prophet? It is true of
most religions that it is impossible to separate the religion from its founder.
Such is the case with Islam. While there are many non-Arab Muslims its
foundation was in the Arab world.
A- Arab
Roots and Conflicts with Israel:
“According
to Scripture, the ancestors of modern Arabs can be traced back to Shem and are
properly known as Semites. Shem’s descendant Eber gave rise to two lines:
Peleg’s line, from which Abraham is descended, and Joktan’s line, which
contains the names of many Arab groups. However, many Arab tribes trace their
ancestry to Ishmael, the firstborn son of Abraham.” 8
Martin says also, “Muhammad was born in Mecca, near the Middle
Western coastal region of Arabia, between 570 and 580, to Abdullah (or Abd
Allah), who died two months after he was born, and Aminah, who died when he was
six. Mecca was a large commercial city known for the Ka‘aba (“cube”), a
building famous for its 360 idols containing images of the moon god Hubal, al-Laôt,
al-€Uzza and Manaôt, and the
Black Stone. Muhammad’s family was of the relatively poor Hashemite clan of the
Quraysh tribe, and it is the patriarch of that tribe, Fihr (known as qirsh, or “shark”) of the Kinaônah tribe, who Muslims claim to be
a descendant of Ishmael and an inheritor of God’s promise to Hagar in Genesis
21:18.” 9
Two times we have seen that the
Muslims claim to be descended from Ishmael. Is this a historically accurate
statement. This is a very important issue because it is through this claim that
they say they have claim to the Promised Land through Abraham. This issue is in
the news today so if you would allow me to pursue this for a moment because of
its importance.
Robert Morey,
the head of a group called Faith
Defenders (WWW.FAITHDEFENDERS.COM- 1-800-41-TRUTH), has published a tract called “Who
Owns the Land of Israel?” Morey says
there will be no peace in the Middle East until this question is answered
honestly according to historical facts and not myths and legends. He goes on to
list 10 historic facts concerning this issue. Let me quote from Morey
concerning this issue.
“The Torah [Old Testament] is contradicted
by the Qur’an at nearly every point. According to Surah 2:119-121, [My note: a
Sura or Surah is much like a book in our Bible] Abraham and Ishmael did not
dwell in tents in Israel but in the city of Mecca in Arabia. Together they
rebuilt the Kabah and place the black stone in the wall. It was Abraham who
started the tradition of an annual pilgrimage to Mecca, throwing stones at the
devil, etc. Abraham took Ishmael (not Isaac) to nearby Mount Mina to offer as a
sacrifice to God.” 10
Morey
points out that Ishmael had twelve sons. (Genesis 12:11-16) He states, “They
intermarried with the local population in North Arabia and produced several
nomadic tribes known as the “Ishmaelites.”” 11
He
says, “The Ishmaelites are mention as a distinct tribe in the Assyrian records.
They later intermarried with and were absorbed by the Midianites and other
local tribes. In Genesis 37:25-28; 39:1, the Ishmaelites are called the
Midianites and in Judges 8:22-24 cf. 7:1f, the Midianites are called the
Ishmaelites. The identification cannot be any stronger.” 12
He
further states, “There is no historical or archeological evidence that Ishmael
went south to Mecca and became the Father of the Arab race.” 13
We
must also remember that Abraham had other sons by his second wife Keturah (Gen
25:1) after Sarah die. There were six recorded in the Bible and one was named
Midian.
“In the time of
Joseph we find the Midianites associated with the Ishmaelites so closely that
it is hard to define their relationship; perhaps there was a company of
Midianite merchantmen in the Ishmaelite caravan (Gen 37:25,27-28,36). In all
likelihood the descendants of Ishmael, and Midian, as well as of other exiled
children of Abraham, had intermarried. In Judg 8:24 the Midianites seem to be
called Ishmaelites.” 14
So
it seems that the Arabs were not descended from Abraham through Ishmael at all
and therefore do not have a claim to the land of Israel. This however is played
up in the news constantly as a fact.
So
we might ask who are these Palestinians who claim the land of Promise? Let me
give a quote from an Arab-American journalist Joseph Farah from
www.worldnetdaily.com that I received in an email back some months ago. It is
dated 30 Oct 2000.
“Isn’t it interesting that prior to the
1967 Arab-Israeli war, there was not serious movement for a Palestinian
homeland? “Well, Farah,” you might say, ‘that was before the Israelis seized
the West Band and Old Jerusalem.” That’s true. In the Six-Day War, Israel
captured Judea, Samaria, and East Jerusalem. But they didn’t capture these from
Yasser Arafat.
They captured them from Jordan’s King
Hussein. I can’t help but wonder why these Palestinians suddenly discovered
their national identity after Israel won the war.
The truth is that Palestine is no more real
than Never-Never Land. The first time the name was used was in 70 A.D. when the
Romans committed genocide against the Jews, smashed the Temple and declared the
land of Israel would be no more. From then on, the Romans promised, it would be
known as Palestine. The name was derived from the Philistines….
Palestine has never existed—before or
since—as an autonomous entity…
There is no language known as Palestinian.
There is no distinct Palestinian culture. There has never been a land known as
Palestine governed by Palestinians. Palestinians are Arabs…” 15
Farah
goes on to point out that the Muslims are trying to say that the Jews have no
right to the Temple Mount historically because there never was a temple.
Concerning
Arafat Farah says, “It’s time to point out to those who do not yet know that
the leader of this movement –Arafat—is not a “Palestinian” at all.” 16
Indeed,
he was born in Egypt “….it was Arafat’s uncle who served as a grand mufti of
Jerusalem in the 1920’s and 1930s. It was his uncle who concluded, for the
first time, that Mohammed had ascended into heaven from the site known as the
Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount. And it was his uncle who, in an unholy
alliance with Adolf Hitler, condemned the Jews and their designs on their
eternal capital city.” 17
Another interesting thing is that Arafat was kicked out of Jordan after he
tried to overthrow King Hussein.
B- Back
to Muhammad:
After the death of both parents Muhammad lived
with his rich grandparents and then a wealthy uncle who in turn passed him to a
poor uncle to raise. While his early life was pretty much uneventful, or at
least unrecorded, he did begin to have visions. Many think these were epileptic
seizures. Morey says, “An entire generation of Islamic scholars have gone on
record stating that we must consider the possibility that Muhammad was
afflicted with epilepsy and that this manifested itself early on by the vision
of Mohammed’s belly being split open and then later by all of his ‘prophetic’
trances.” 18
1- His
Wives:
The
Koran teaches that a man can have up to four wives. “…marry what seems good to
you of women, by twos, or threes, or fours.” ( Sura 4:3 THE KORAN Translated by E.H. Palmer) 19 The Koran gives a number of prohibited marriages.
“At twenty-five, Muhammad married a wealthy
forty-year-old widow, Khadijah, after she proposed to him. Muhammad remained
with Khadijah for twenty-five years and had two sons, who died in infancy, and
four daughters. After Khadijah died in 619 or 620, Muhammad married a widow of
a disciple and a seven-year-old (who moved in with him when she was ten),
Ayisha. His seventh wife was his ex-daughter-in-law; by the time of his death he
had twelve wives and two concubines (including Maryam, an Egyptian Coptic
slave).D-22 Interestingly, Sura 4:3 limits the number of wives to
four, and in Sura 4:31 marriage to one’s daughter-in-law was prohibited. But in
Sura 33:36–40, Muhammad was conveniently given a new revelation from God that
ordered Zaid, Mohammed’s adopted son, to divorce his wife so Muhammad could
marry her by God’s command.” 20
While
the Koran says a man can have up to four wives Muhammad had considerably more.
“The question of the number of women with whom Muhammad was sexually involved
either as wives, concubines, or devotees was made a point of contention by the
Jews in Mohammed’s day.” 21
Many
Moslems will argue against historic fact and say that Muhammad was sinless.
Again to quote Morey:
“It also poses a logical problem for
Muslims. Because the Quran in Sura 4:3 forbids the taking of more than four
wives, to have taken any more would have been sinful for Muhammad.
One Muslim apologist with whom I was
conversing argued as follow:
Muhammad was sinless.
The Quran makes taking more than four wives a sin. Therefore Muhammad could not
have taken more than four wives. Why? Because Muhammad was sinless.”
I pointed out that the question of how many
wives Muhammad or anyone else had should be answered on the basis of the
historical and literary evidence and not blind faith.”22
“Muslim
scholar and statesman Ali Dsahti gives the following list of the women in
Mohammed’s life: